Pashinyan: Armenia has no reason to attack Azerbaijan

ArmInfo. A stable situation  in the region is beneficial to the ruling political force in Armenia,  and personally to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol  Pashinyan. The head of the Armenian government made this statement on  December 4th during the government's session in the National  Assembly.

According to him, there are quite a lot of publications in the  Azerbaijani press about Yerevan's alleged preparations for a new war  with Azerbaijan, which is beneficial to the Prime Minister himself,  especially given the current domestic political situation in the  country. However, Pashinyan noted that any observer can state that  the situation is actually the opposite, and that the ruling force  benefits from a stable region.  "But we must acknowledge that there  are forces seeking to destabilize the region, and we must respond to  this. Our response will be to avoid provocations, and constantly  explain our position," the Prime Minister said. 

He added that the Armenian side has no reason to attack Azerbaijan,  since the parties have mutually recognized each other's territorial  integrity based on the Almaty Declaration of 1991. Moreover, the  Armenian parliament has ratified the regulations on joint activities  of the border delimitation commissions, and Azerbaijan has done the  same. Thus, the Prime Minister noted, the border delimitation process  should begin in the near future. "I this regard, I would like to note  that any actions by the Republic of Armenia that could destabilize  the situation in the region are excluded," the head of the Armenian  government said. 

He recalled that more than 200 square kilometers of Armenian  territory are occupied by Azerbaijan, but the solution to this  problem through military means is not part of the country's  authorities' agenda. This issue will be resolved within the framework  of the border delimitation commissions' activities. Pashinyan also  noted that 90% of all points of the peace treaty between Armenia and  Azerbaijan have been fully agreed upon, and now every effort must be  made to sign the document. The Armenian side has also proposed a  realistic project to unblock regional communications. "Therefore,  there are valid reasons for tensions to escalate between the two  states," the RA Prime Minister said.